Recording and/or reproducing apparatus, portable recording and reproducing apparatus, data transfer system, data transfer method, and data recording and reproducing method

ABSTRACT

A recording and/or reproducing apparatus for recording and/or reproducing data to and/or from a recording medium having a data area in which data are stored and a management data area in which management data for managing these data are stored. The apparatus according to the invention has a selecting circuit, a reading circuit, and a transfer circuit. The selecting circuit selects, in accordance with a user operation, group management data to be stored in the recording medium. The group management data are stored in the management data area and manage, as a data group, plural data stored in the data area. The reading circuit reads the selected group management data and the data group managed thereby. The transfer circuit transfers the read group management data and the read data group managed thereby to an external device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a recording and/orreproducing apparatus, a portable recording and reproducing apparatus, adata transfer system, a data transfer method, and a data recording andreproducing method.

Various types of consumer audio visual devices are in widespread use,allowing users to personally enjoy music software and video software.For example, users own audio systems by which information is reproducedfrom disc record media such as a CD (Compact Disc) (trademark) and an MD(MiniDisc) (trademark) for example or record information thereto andportable reproducing devices by which information is reproduced from theabove-mentioned disc recording media. These audio systems allow users toreproduce desired CDs and MDs or record desired music pieces for exampleto MDs, which are recordable, thereby creating users' original discs.

The related-art portable music reproducing devices, for example,portable CD players and portable MD players are intended to reproduceonly one type of recording medium; for example, one CD or MD is loadedat time in these portable devices. Generally, one unit of a recordingmedium is provided as one music album in which plural music pieces (amusic collection) are recorded. Therefore, a user may only reproduce onemusic collection at a time by a single portable player. In other words,if a user wants to reproduce music pieces recorded on plural musiccollections by a single portable player, the user must change the discsevery time such a situation occurs. In the case of stationary audiosystems, a disc changer system allows the reproduction of music piecesrecorded on plural music collections by automatically changing thediscs. However, the portable devices, which inevitably are required tobe light in weight and small in size, cannot accommodate such a discchanger system.

With recording/reproducing devices using such recording media that userscan record music data as MDs and memory cards based on flash memory,music collections provided by CDs for example can be recorded or usersmay selectively record desired music pieces. If the storage size of arecording medium is large enough, plural music collections may berecorded on a single recording medium. These recording/reproducingdevices, when applied to portable players, allow users to listen toplural music collections only by loading one recording medium in aportable players. However, with these portable players, management isnot made on a music collection basis on a recording medium. If theabove-mentioned recording/reproducing devices record a collection of 10pieces of music and another collection of 8 pieces for example on asingle recording medium, management is made on the basis that 18 piecesare simply recorded on the recording medium, not on the basis that twocollections of 10 pieces and 8 pieces are recorded. Therefore, if userswant to reproduce only one of the collections, they cannot specify thedesired one for reproduction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to execute thereproduction of pieces of music (or main data) contained in plural musiccollections (namely, collections of main data) on a single recordingmedium while retaining the nature of collection as a music collection,without use of a recording-medium changer system, namely withoutchanging recording media recorded with the main data.

In carrying out the invention and according to a first aspect thereof,there is provided a recording/reproducing apparatus forrecording/reproducing data to/from a recording medium having a data areain which data are stored and a management data area in which managementdata for managing the data are stored, including selecting means forselecting group management data to be stored in the recording medium inaccordance with a user operation, the group management data, stored inthe management data area, managing, as a data group, a plurality of thedata to be stored in the data area, reading means for reading theselected group management data and the data group managed by the groupmanagement data, and transfer means for transferring the groupmanagement data and the data group read by the reading means to anexternal apparatus.

In carrying out the invention and according to a second aspect thereof,there is provided a portable recording and reproducing apparatus forreceiving data and management data for managing the received data,recording the received data and the received management data to arecording medium, and reproducing the recorded data from the recordingmedium, including recording means for recording a received data group ina data area of a recording medium and group management data for managingthe received data group in a management data area of the recordingmedium, selecting means for selecting, in accordance with a useroperation, the group management data to be recorded in the recordingmedium, reproducing means for reproducing a plurality of data managed bythe selected group management data, and control means for controllingthe reproducing means so as to reproduce, in units of the received datagroup, the plurality of data managed by the selected group managementdata.

According to a third aspect thereof, there is provided a data transfersystem including a recording/reproducing apparatus forrecording/reproducing data to/from a first recording medium having adata area in which data are stored and a management data area in whichmanagement data for managing the data are stored, therecording/reproducing apparatus including first selecting means forselecting, in accordance with a user operation, group management data tobe stored in the first recording medium, the group management, stored inthe management data area, managing a plurality of the data as a datagroup, reading means for reading the selected group management data andthe data group managed by the selected group management data, andtransfer means for transferring the read group management data and thedata group managed by the group management data to an external device,and the data transfer system also including a portable recording andreproducing apparatus for receiving data and management data formanaging the data received from the recording/reproducing apparatus andrecording the received data and the received management data onto asecond recording medium, including recording means for recording a datagroup received from the recording/reproducing apparatus into a data areaof the second recording medium and the group management data into amanagement data area thereof, second selecting means for selecting, inaccordance with a user operation, the group management data recorded onthe second recording medium, reproducing means for reproducing aplurality of the data managed by the group management data, and controlmeans for controlling the reproducing means so as to reproduce theplural data, in units of the data group, managed by the selected groupmanagement data.

According to a fourth aspect thereof, there is provided arecording/reproducing apparatus for recording/reproducing data to/from arecording medium having a data area in which music data are stored and amanagement data area in which management data for managing a pluralityof the music data are stored, including selecting means for selecting,in accordance with a user operation, album management data to be storedin the recording medium, the album management data, stored in themanagement data area, managing a plurality of the music data as albumdata, reading means for reading the selected album management data andthe album data managed thereby, and transfer means for transferring theread album management data and the read album data managed thereby to anexternal device.

According to a fifth aspect thereof, there is provided a data transfermethod for transferring data from a recording medium having a data areain which data are stored and a management data area in which managementdata for managing the data are stored, including the steps of selectinggroup management data to be stored in the recording medium in accordancewith a user operation, the group management data, stored in themanagement data area, managing, as a data group, a plurality of piecesof data to be stored in the data area, reading the selected groupmanagement data and the data group managed by the group management data,and transferring the read group management data and the read data groupto an external apparatus.

According to a sixth aspect thereof, there is provided a data recordingand reproducing method for receiving data and management data formanaging the data to record the data and the management data to arecording medium and reproduce the data and the management datatherefrom, including the steps of recording a received data group in adata area of a recording medium and group management data for managingthe received data group in a management data area of the recordingmedium, selecting, in accordance with a user operation, the groupmanagement data to be recorded in the recording medium, reproducing aplurality of data managed by the selected group management data, andcontrolling the reproducing step so as to reproduce the plurality ofdata managed by the selected group management data in units of thereceived data group.

According to a seventh aspect thereof, there is provided a method forrecording data and management data for managing the data transferredfrom a first recording medium having a data area in which the data arestored and a management data area in which the management data arestored and reproducing the data and the management data from the firstrecording medium, including the steps of selecting, in accordance with auser operation, group management data to be stored in the firstrecording medium, the group management, stored in the management dataarea, managing a plurality of the data as a data group, reading theselected group management data and the data group managed by theselected group management data, and transferring the read groupmanagement data and the data group managed by the group management datato an external device, recording the data group to a data area of asecond recording medium and the group management data into a managementdata area thereof, selecting, in accordance with a user operation, thegroup management data recorded on the second recording medium,reproducing a plurality of the data managed by the group managementdata, and controlling the reproducing step so as to reproduce, in unitsof the data group, the plural data managed by the selected groupmanagement data.

According to an eighth aspect thereof, there is provided a data transfermethod for transferring data from a recording medium having a data areain which the data are stored and a management data area in whichmanagement data for managing the data, including the steps of selecting,in accordance with a user operation, album management data to be storedin the recording medium, the album management data, stored in themanagement data area, managing a plurality of the music data as albumdata, reading the selected album management data and the album datamanaged thereby, and transferring the read album management data and theread album data managed thereby to an external device.

As described, the present invention provides the following advantages.The recording/reproducing apparatus according to the invention can sendplural pieces of main data constituting a main data aggregate such asmusic collections for example to the portable apparatus for examplealong with collection managing data for managing these plural pieces ofmain data as the main data aggregate. The portable apparatus accordingto the invention manages records the received plural pieces of main data(for example, music data) on a recording medium and manages these datafor reproduction by use of the received collection managing data,thereby reproducing the main data while retaining the concept of anaggregate such as a music collection. Consequently, the portableapparatus can execute various operations by making distinction betweenthe plural main data collections on a single recording medium, therebyproviding an advantage that user-specified reproducing operations suchas the reproduction on a discrete music collection basis and thereproduction over plural music collections for example while retainingthe concept of music collections without changing recording media.Further, if a recording medium to be loaded in the portable apparatus isof fixed type rather than changeable, the present invention allows usersto listen to the reproduction of plural music collections. Stillfurther, the capability of transferring the main data in a unit of amusic collection between the recording/reproducing apparatus and theportable apparatus facilitates for users to easily handle theaggregates, which are music collections, thereby enhancing theuser-friendliness of these apparatuses.

As described, the collection managing data can manage the number oftimes the main data collections are transferred and the number of timeseach piece of main data constituting a main data collection istransferred. In addition, the transfer control means of therecording/reproducing apparatus can control the execution of thetransfer of each selected main data collection and each piece of maindata in accordance with the number of times these data are transferred,thereby providing the appropriate transfer control for implementingcopyright protection for example.

In addition, the collection managing data can manage the editing of themain data collections and the transfer control means of therecording/reproducing apparatus can control the execution oftransferring the selected main data collection in accordance with theediting information managed by the collection managing data, therebyimplementing copyright protection and transferring the main datacollections of proper contents.

As described, the reproduction control means of the portable apparatuscan control the reproduction of plural main data collections transferredand recorded on a recording medium in a specified reproduction sequenceor in a random manner, thereby realizing the various manners ofreproduction over plural main data collections (or plural musiccollections).

Moreover, the reproduction control means of the portable apparatus cancontrol the execution of sequential reproduction, reproduction inspecified order, and random reproduction of each piece of main dataconstituted specified one of the main data collections transferred andrecorded on a recording medium, thereby realizing the reproduction ofone main data collection (one music collection).

Consequently, the present invention allows various user-specifiedreproduction modes while retaining the music collections as conceived byusers, thereby significantly enhancing user-friendliness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects of the invention will be seen by reference tothe description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an information distributionsystem including a recording/reproducing apparatus practiced as onepreferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the above-mentionedrecording/reproducing apparatus and a portable apparatus practiced asanother preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the above-mentionedrecording/reproducing apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the above-mentioned portableapparatus;

FIG. 5 illustrates a managing structure of music data practiced onestill another preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6A illustrates a data structure of music data and managing data inthe above-mentioned recording/reproducing apparatus;

FIG. 6B illustrates a data structure of data transferred from theabove-mentioned recording/reproducing apparatus to the above-mentionedportable apparatus;

FIG. 6C illustrates a data structure of the transferred data as recordedin the above-mentioned portable apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart describing the transfer processing for a piece ofmusic from the above-mentioned recording/reproducing apparatus to theabove-mentioned portable apparatus;

FIG. 8 is another flowchart describing the transfer processing for amusic collection from the above-mentioned recording/reproducingapparatus to the portable apparatus;

FIG. 9 is still another flowchart describing the transfer processing fora music collection from the above-mentioned recording/reproducingapparatus to the portable apparatus;

FIG. 10 is yet another flowchart describing the transfer processing fora music collection from the above-mentioned recording/reproducingapparatus to the above-mentioned portable apparatus;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart describing the transfer processing for a musicpiece from the above-mentioned portable device to the above-mentionedrecording/reproducing apparatus;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart describing the return processing for a musiccollection from the above-mentioned portable apparatus to therecording/reproducing apparatus; and

FIG. 13 illustrates various reproducing operations in theabove-mentioned portable apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

This invention will be described in further detail by way of examplewith reference to the accompanying drawings. The description will bemade about a recording/reproducing apparatus 10, and a portableapparatus 50 and a data transfer system composed thereof, which arepreferred embodiments of the present invention, in the order shown. Itshould be noted that the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 and theportable apparatus 50 in an example shown below also server as terminalsof an information distribution system for distributing music informationfor instance. Therefore, the following description will also refer tosuch an information distribution system. It should also be noted that,in the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, main data denote musicdata by way of example and a main data collection is equivalent to amusic collection (or so-called a music album). It should be noted againthat collection managing data are equivalent to a list ID, musiccollection managing data, and music piece managing data.

(1) Overview of the information distribution system

(2) Exemplary external views of the recording/reproducing apparatus andthe portable apparatus

(3) Internal configuration of the recording/reproducing apparatus

(4) Internal configuration of the portable apparatus

(5) Data structure as a music collection

(6) Transfer of a piece of music from the recording/reproducingapparatus to the portable apparatus

(7) Transfer of a music collection from the recording/reproducingapparatus to the portable apparatus

(8) Return of a piece of music from the portable apparatus to therecording/reproducing apparatus

(9) Return of a piece of music collection from the portable apparatus tothe recording/reproducing apparatus

(10) Reproducing operations of the portable apparatus

(1) Overview of the information distribution system:

Now, referring to FIG. 1, there is shown the information distributionsystem that contains the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 practiced asone preferred embodiment of the invention. Basically, the informationdistribution system is composed of the recording/reproducing apparatus10 for use by general users in a home 2 and an information center 1which provides services to the recording/reproducing apparatus 10.

Between the information center 1 and the recording/reproducing apparatus10, various kinds of information can be transmitted over a transmissionpath 3 such as a communications line. The transmission path 3 may be apublic line network such as ISDN line or a network dedicated to thissystem, the form of the line being not restricted. It is alsopracticable to constitute a satellite communications line by use of acommunications satellite 4 and a parabola antenna 5 installed in thehome 2, transferring information between the information center 1 andthe recording/reproducing apparatus 10.

Further, the information distribution system may use a wirelesscommunications network for use by cellular phones and transceivers or acommunications network based on wireless communications standards forinfrared, quasi-millimeter wave, or millimeter wave, for example, theBluetooth (trademark) standard.

The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 for use by general users containsa large-capacity data file storage section (for example, a hard diskdrive 15 shown in FIG. 3) and has a drive capability for driving apackage medium as CD and MD, a data input capability of capturing datafrom other devices, and a data input capability of capturing data viathe transmission path 3. The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 canstore, in its data file storage section, various data such as audiodata, video data, image data, and programs reproduced fromuser-purchased recording media such as CD, CD-ROM, and MD and variousdata inputted from other devices and the transmission path 3.

The above-mentioned recording/reproducing apparatus can reproduce thestored files (for example, one piece of music is stored as one file) asinstructed by the user. Consequently, if a user having many CDs storesevery music piece in every CD as one file into the recording/reproducingapparatus 10, the user can execute the reproduction of desired musicpieces without loading CDs by use of this recording/reproducingapparatus.

The information center 1 can provide various kinds of information atcost or not to the recording/reproducing apparatus 10.

The information center 1 can provide such information associated withthe files of music pieces for example stored in therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 as title, artist name, text data oflyrics, image data including music image and artists, Internet home pageaddress URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of artist, copyright, and namesof parties concerned (writer, composer, producer, and so on) forinstance. The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 stores these kinds ofinformation provided (or downloaded) from the information center 1 asrelated to each music piece. Then, when the recording/reproducingapparatus 10 reproduces a particular piece of music, these kinds ofinformation are used in executing various operations such as displayingthe images corresponding to the reproduced music piece for example.

Sometimes, the information center 1 sends audio data themselves, namelypieces of music, to the recording/reproducing apparatus 10, which canstore these audio data as files. That is, the present invention can alsobuild an electronic audio data sale system which is different from thesale of package media such as CDs.

As described, the present embodiment also has the portable recording andreproducing apparatus 50 (hereafter referred to as the portableapparatus 50) which can be connected to the recording/reproducingapparatus 10. The portable apparatus 50 incorporates a data file storagesection (for example, a flash memory 54 as shown in FIG. 4) for storingfiles of audio data for example, the portable apparatus 50 to bedetailed later.

When the portable apparatus 50 is connected to the recording/reproducingapparatus 10, files (for example, music pieces) stored therein can becopied or moved to the data file storage section of the portableapparatus 50. Obviously, files stored in the data file storage sectionof the portable apparatus 50 can be copied or moved to the data filestorage section of the recording/reproducing apparatus 10.

By moving or copying a desired one of the files from therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 to the portable apparatus 50, theuser can use this file on the portable apparatus 50. For example, theuser can move or copy desired music pieces to the portable apparatus 50and carry about the same to listen to the copied or moved music pieces.

(2) Exemplary external views of the recording/reproducing apparatus andthe portable apparatus:

Referring to FIG. 2, there are shown the external views of therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 and the portable apparatus 50 by wayof example. It should be noted that these external views areillustrative only and therefore there are variations to the externalviews, the user interface configuration (the configuration for useroperations and corresponding displays), and the connection form betweenthe recording/reproducing apparatus 10 and the portable apparatus 50.

As shown in FIG. 2, the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 is so-calledradio cassette recorder type device so as to make the apparatus suitablefor use in user's home for example. Obviously, the recording/reproducingapparatus 10 may be of component type.

The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 has various controls Ka for theuser to execute various operations, the controls Ka including operatorkeys and knobs, a rotary push key called a jog dial arranged on itsfront panel.

The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 also has an output sectionincluding a speaker 35 for outputting reproduced sound and a displaysection 24 for displaying various kinds of information. The displaysection 24 is constituted by an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel forexample.

The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 also has a CD loader 17 a foraccommodating CD-type discs (audio CD, CD-ROM, and CD text) owned by theuser to be reproduced by the recording/reproducing apparatus 10. Therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 can copy data reproduced from CD-typediscs loaded in the CD loader 17 a onto its hard disk.

Further, the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 has an MD loader 18 afor accommodating MD-type discs (audio MD and MD data) owned by user andto be reproduced by the recording/reproducing apparatus 10. Therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 can copy data reproduced from MD-typediscs loaded in the MD loader 18 a onto its hard disk.

In addition, the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 has variousterminals ta for connecting this apparatus to various externalapparatuses. These terminals ta include microphone and headphoneterminals, line connection terminals for audio visual equipment and apersonal computer, an optical digital connection terminal, and interfaceconnectors.

In addition to the above-mentioned controls Ka, therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 has a keyboard 90 and a remotecommander 91 as user operation input means. The keyboard 90 is connectedto the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 through a keyboard connector,one of the terminals ta. If an infrared transmitter is installed on thekeyboard 90, the output of the keyboard 90 is wirelessly received by aphoto receptor 21 of the recording/reproducing apparatus 10. The remotecommander 91 outputs operator control information in an infrared mannerfor example. The operator control information carried by an infraredsignal is inputted in the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 through thephoto receptor 21. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthe output of the remote command 91 may alternatively transmitted byradio wave.

The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 also has a PCMCIA (PersonalComputer Memory Card International Association) slot 39 foraccommodating a PCMCIA card for data transfer.

The portable apparatus 50 is a device small in size and light in weightfor user convenience in carrying it about. The portable apparatus 50 hasvarious controls Kb including control keys which are operated by theuser to execute various operations. Although not shown, a jog dial mayalso be arranged on this apparatus. The portable apparatus 50 also has aspeaker 68 for outputting reproduced sound and a display section 57 fordisplaying various kinds of information. The display section 57 isconstituted by an LCD panel for example.

The portable apparatus 50 has various terminals tb for connecting thisapparatus to external apparatuses. These terminals ta include microphoneand headphone terminals, line connection terminals for audio visualequipment and a personal computer, an optical digital connectionterminal, and interface connectors. For example, when the user listensto music on the portable apparatus 50, the sound is outputted from notonly the speaker 68 but also a headphone 92 connected to this apparatusthrough the headphone terminal, one of the terminals tb.

Connecting the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 with the portableapparatus 50 allows the transfer of various data (file data such asaudio data and control data for processing the transfer of these audiodata for example) between them. In the present embodiment, therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 has a mount MT equipped with aconnector 27. Setting the portable apparatus 50 into the mount MTconnects the portable apparatus 50 to the recording/reproducingapparatus 10. To be more specific, when the portable apparatus 50 is setin the mount MT, a connector 60 arranged on the bottom of the portableapparatus 50 mates with the connector 27 of the mount MT, by which dataare transferred between both apparatuses. It will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that the connection between these apparatuses mayalternatively be made on the basis of line connection by use of acommunications cable or wireless connection by use of infraredtransmission.

(3) Internal configuration of the recording/reproducing apparatus:

The following describes an internal configuration of therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 by way of example with reference toFIG. 3. As described, a push or rotary controls are arranged as anoperator panel 20 on the recording/reproducing apparatus 10. Thesecontrols are equivalent to the various controls Ka shown in FIG. 2.Namely, these controls are those arranged on the case of this apparatus.Although not described with reference to FIG. 2, the display section 24may have a touch-sensitive display panel by which the user can operatesdisplayed controls. These displayed controls are included in theoperator panel 20. When the user inputs instructions for executingdesired operations, the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 operates asinstructed.

In order to facilitates the inputting of title, artist names, and so oncorresponding to audio information to be recorded for example, therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 has the keyboard 90 and the remotecommander 91 as described above. Connecting the keyboard 90 to a USB(Universal Serial Bus) terminal ta6 allows the inputting of userinstructions from the keyboard 90. Namely, an input signal (a userinstruction) generated by the keyboard 90 is supplied to a USB driver101 via the USB terminal ta6 to be captured in the recording/reproducingapparatus 10. It should be noted that the terminals ta1 through ta7shown in FIG. 3 respectively correspond to the terminals ta shown inFIG. 2.

An operator signal carried by infrared radiation from the remotecommander 91 (or an operator signal carried by infrared radiation fromthe keyboard 90 if it so constructed) is photoelectrically converted inthe photo receptor 21 for supply to an infrared interface driver 22,thus being captured in the recording/reproducing apparatus 10.

The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 may execute data transfer via theinfrared interface driver 22 or the USB driver 101.

The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 incorporates a ROM 12, a RAM 13,and a flash memory 14 like the configuration of a personal computer. ACPU 11 controls the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 in its entirety.The transfer of file data and control data between the components of therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 is executed over a bus B1.

The ROM 12 stores programs and data for controlling the operation of therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 in accordance with an input signalgenerated when the operator panel 20 is operated (or an input signalfrom the keyboard 90 or the remote commander 91). In the RAM 13 and theflash memory 14, a data area and a task area for executing programs areallocated temporarily. The ROM 12 also stores a program loader, by whichprograms themselves can be loaded into the flash memory 14.

A CD-type optical disc (audio CD, CD-ROM, or CD text for example) is setinto a CD-ROM drive 17 from the CD loader 17 a. The CD-ROM drive 17reads information from a loaded optical disc by its optical pickup at anormal or a high speed such as 16x and 32x.

An MD-type optical disc or magneto-optical disc (audio MD or MD data) isset into an MD drive 18 from the MD loader 18 a. The MD drive 18 readsinformation from a loaded MD disc by its optical pickup or recordsinformation to a loaded MD disc.

In the present embodiment, the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 hasboth the CD-ROM drive 17 and the MD drive 18. It will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that only one of these drives may be arrangedor other drives may be arranged that are compatible with such recordingmedia other than CD-ROM and MD as a magneto-optical disc called MO disc,a optical disc based on another scheme, a magnetic disc, and a memorycard. In addition, the memory card may not be format-dependent; namely,the memory card may be any of semiconductor flash memories such asMemory Stick (trademark), SD memory card (trademark), Compact Flash(trademark), Smart Media (trademark), Multimedia Card (trademark), MicroDrive (trademark), ID Format (trademark), and ThumDrive (trademark) orany of memory cards incorporating a microcomputer having authenticationfunctionality.

For the large-capacity storage means of the recording/reproducingapparatus 10, a hard disk drive (HDD) 15, which records and readinformation to and from the hard discs in this drive is arranged. Forexample, music data are transferred from the CD-ROM drive 17 or the MDdrive 18 to be stored on the HDD 15 on a file basis (one piece of musicconstituting one file for example).

The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 also has an encoder 28 forcompressingly encoding audio data on the basis of ATRAC2 (AdaptiveTransform Acoustic Coding 2) (trademark) and a decoder 29 for decodingthe encoded audio data encoded by ATRAC2. The encoder 28 and the decoder29 encodes and decodes the supplied audio data under the control of theCPU 11. The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 has a buffer memory 16for temporarily holding the audio data to be processed. The buffermemory 16 is accessed for writing and reading data under the control ofthe CPU 11.

In storing the audio data read by the CD-ROM drive 17 from a loaded discinto the HDD 15 for example, the audio data are pre-processed beforebeing stored in the HDD 15; namely, the audio data are temporarilystored in the buffer memory 16 and then encoded by the encoder 28 byATRAC2 to be temporarily held in the buffer memory 16 again, finallybeing stored on the HDD 15.

In the present embodiment, the audio data encoded by the encoder 28 inATRAC2 are stored on the HDD 15. It will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that data read from the CD-ROM drive 17 for example may bedirectly stored on the HDD 15, namely without being compressinglyencoded.

The encoder 28 not only encodes data read from a recording medium loadedin the CD-ROM drive 17 but also receives audio signals coming from themicrophone terminal ta3 through an amplifier 32 or audio signals comingfrom the line input terminal ta2 through an A/D converter 31. Therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 can also encode these music data bymeans of the encoder 28.

In addition, the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 is configured sothat data inputted from external apparatus (for example, a CD player)connected to the optical digital terminal ta4 are supplied to theencoder 28 via an IEC958 (International Electrotechnical Commission 958)encoder 30. The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 can also encode thesedata supplied in an optical digital manner by means of the encoder 28.

As described, the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 is configured sothat the data inputted from external apparatus are encoded by theencoder 28 and the encoded data are stored on the HDD 15 on a filebasis.

In the present embodiment, ATRAC2 is used for the encoding algorithm ofthe encoder 28. Obviously, the encoding algorithm is not restricted toATRAC2. Any other encoding algorithms are available; for example, ATRACor ATRAC3, MPEG3 (Moving Picture Coding Experts Group Audio Layer 3),MPEG-2AAC (MPEG 2 Advanced Audio Coding), QDesign Music Codec(trademark), PASC (Precision Adaptive Sub-band Coding), TwinVQ(Transform Domain Weighted Interleave Vector Quantization) (trademark),Real Audio (trademark), Liquid Audio (trademark), MS Audio (MicrosoftAudio (WMA Windows Media Audio)) (trademark), and Ogg Vorbis(trademark).

The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 has a modem 19 which interfacesthis apparatus with the Internet, a TEL network, a cable TV, or awireless network for example, which is connected to the communicationsterminal ta5 as the transmission path 3.

Such a communications interface compatible with a communicationsinfrastructure as the modem 19 for example allows therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 to download and upload various kindsof information with servers on external networks with which thisapparatus can communicate over the transmission path 3. For example, therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 can receive music data which arepieces of music or music collections, such additional information tomusic data as title, artist name, composer name, writer name, lyrics,and jacket cover image, or, conversely, provide information to theinformation center 1.

The music data for example stored in the HDD 15 are decoded by thedecoder 29, converted by a D/A converter 33 from digital to analog, andoutputted from the speaker 35 via an amplifier 34. Alternatively, themusic data for example are outputted from a headphone connected to theheadphone terminal ta1.

In the present embodiment, the data are decoded by the decoder 29 basedon ATRAC2. It will be apparent that the decoding algorithm is notrestricted to ATRAC2; any other decoding algorithms are available ifcompatible with the encoding algorithm used in the encoder 28. Theencoding and decoding may be executed by the CPU 11 in softwareapproach.

The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 has the display section 24 asshown in FIG. 2 to provide interface for the user to manage and controlthe files of music data for example stored on the HDD 15. The displaysection 24 is drivingly controlled by a display driver 25. On thedisplay section 24, predetermined characters, symbols, icons, and so onare displayed under the control of the CPU 11.

The display section 24 also shows folders or jacket images correspondingto various files. These displayed entities can be manipulated on-screenby means of pointing devices such as a mouse, a touch pen, and thefinger of user, which are equivalent to the controls on the operatorpanel 20. For example, the user can specify a particular file on-screento be reproduced. It should be noted that a file herein denotes a datafile containing music data and control information.

The user can perform, through the display section 24, such operations asdeletion of selected files and their copying or moving to externalapparatus like the portable apparatus 50. In addition, the displaysection 25 shows HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) documents retrievedfrom WWW (World Wide Web) sites on the Internet on the basis of the TOC(Table Of Contents) information provided by a recording medium loaded inthe CD-ROM drive 17. Moreover, the display section 25 provides thefunctionality of an ordinary Internet browser.

The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 is also configured to captureaudio information from the various devices and systems connected to theterminal ta7, for example an IRD (Integrated Receiver Decoder) forsatellite broadcasting, an MD player, a DVD (Digital Video Disk/DigitalVersatile Disk) player, and a DV (Digital Video) player, via an IEEE1394 interface 37 and an IEEE 1394 driver 36.

The recording/reproducing apparatus 10 also has the PCMCIA card slot 39which is drivingly controlled by a PCMCIA driver 38, thereby providingperipheral device extensions such as external storage device, othermedia drives than mentioned above, modem, terminal adapter, and captureboard.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 hasthe connector 27 that provides the connection between this apparatuswith the portable apparatus 50. When the connector 27 is connected withthe connector 60 of the portable apparatus 50, the CPU 11 cancommunicate with the portable apparatus 50 through the interface driver26. Consequently, the music data for example stored in the HDD 15 can betransferred to the portable apparatus 50.

(4) Internal configuration of the portable apparatus:

The following describes an exemplary internal configuration of theportable apparatus 50 with reference to FIG. 4. When the connector 27 isconnected to the connector 60, the recording/reproducing apparatus 10and the portable apparatus 50 are electrically interconnected. In theconnected state, the interface driver 26 of the recording/reproducingapparatus 10 is connected to an interface driver 59 of the portableapparatus 50, thereby making the data communication ready between theseapparatuses. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that theseapparatus may alternatively interconnected by an IEEE 1394 cable.

The portable apparatus 50 has an operator panel 56 constituted by pushand rotary switches and a jog dial for example. Namely, the controls Kbshown in FIG. 2 are equivalent to the operator panel 56. When any of thecontrols Kb as the operator panel 56 is operated by the user, acorresponding operation signal is sent over a control bus B2 to theportable apparatus 50, which then operates accordingly.

Like the recording/reproducing apparatus 10, the portable apparatus 50has a RAM 53 and a ROM 52, which form a normal computer configuration.The overall operation of the portable apparatus 50 is controlled by aCPU 51. The transfer of file data and control data between the componentblocks is executed via the control bus B2.

The ROM 52 stores programs to be executed by the portable apparatus 50in accordance with an operation signal inputted from the operator panel56. In the RAM 53, a data area and a task area are temporarily allocatedfor the execution of programs. Like the recording/reproducing apparatus10, the portable apparatus 50 may have a flash memory. Further, thecontrol bus B2 is not limited to the configuration mentioned above.

For an internal storage means for storing music data for example, asolid-state memory element such as a flash memory 54 for example isarranged. The flash memory 54 stores the music data transferred from therecording/reproducing apparatus 10, for example. It will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that a HDD but not exclusively may be used forthe flash memory.

The flash memory 54 may be of a detachable type implemented by a memorycard for example or may be fixedly arranged inside the portableapparatus 50. In addition, the memory card may not be format-dependent;namely, the memory card may be any of semiconductor flash memories suchas Memory Stick (trademark), SD memory card (trademark), Compact Flash(trademark), Smart Media (trademark), Multimedia Card (trademark), MicroDrive (trademark), ID Format (trademark), and ThumDrive (trademark) orany of memory cards incorporating a microcomputer having authenticationfunctionality.

Like the recording/reproducing apparatus 10, the portable apparatus 50also has an encoder 61 for compressingly encoding audio data on thebasis of ATRAC2 and a decoder 62 for decoding the encoded audio dataencoded by ATRAC2. The encoder 61 and the decoder 62 encodes and decodesthe supplied audio data under the control of the CPU 51. The portableapparatus 50 has a buffer memory 55 for temporarily holding the audiodata to be processed. The buffer memory 55 is accessed under the controlof the CPU 51.

In storing the music data not encoded in ATRAC2 supplied from therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 via the interface driver 59 into theflash memory 54 for example, the music data are pre-processed beforebeing stored in the flash memory 54; namely, the music data aretemporarily stored in the buffer memory 55 and then ATRAC2-encoded bythe encoder 61 to be temporarily held in the buffer memory 55 again,finally being stored on the flash memory 54.

In the present embodiment, the HDD 15 of the recording/reproducingapparatus 10 stores music data and so on encoded in ATRAC2. Therefore,when the music data are supplied from the HDD 15 via the interfacedriver 59 to be stored in the flash memory 54, namely data files ofmusic for example are copied or moved, the processing by the encoder 61is not required. However, if music data (data before compression) aredirectly inputted from a recording medium loaded in the CD-ROM drive 17for example of the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 into the portableapparatus 50 via the interface driver 59, the encoding by the encoder 61is executed as described above.

In the present embodiment, the music data ATRAC2-encoded by the encoder61 are stored in the flash memory 54. It will be apparent to the thoseskilled in the art that data before compression may be directly storedin the flash memory 54.

In addition to the interface driver 59, a microphone terminal tb3, aline input terminal tb2, and an optical digital terminal tb4 arearranged for supplying audio data to the encoder 61. It should be notedthat the terminals tb1 through tb4 shown in FIG. 4 are respectivelyequivalent to the terminals tb shown in FIG. 2.

The encoder 61 receives audio signals coming from the microphoneterminal tb3 through an amplifier 65 or audio signals coming from theline terminal tb2 through an A/D converter 64. These audio digital dataare also encoded by means of the encoder 61.

In addition, the portable apparatus 50 is configured so that datainputted from external apparatus (for example, a CD player) connected tothe optical digital terminal tb4 are supplied to the encoder 61 via anIEC958 encoder 63. The portable apparatus 50 can also encode these datasupplied in an optical digital manner by means of the encoder 61.

As described, the portable apparatus 50 is configured so that the datainputted from external apparatus are encoded by the encoder 61 and theencoded data are stored in the flash memory 54 on a file basis.

In the present embodiment, ATRAC2 is used for the encoding algorithm ofthe encoder 61. Obviously, the encoding algorithm is not restricted toATRAC2. Any other encoding algorithms are available; for example, ATRAC(trademark) or ATRAC3 (trademark), MPEG3 (Moving Picture Coding ExpertsGroup Audio Layer 3)(trademark), PASC (Precision Adaptive Sub-bandCoding)(trademark), TwinVQ (Transform Domain Weighted Interleave VectorQuantization) (trademark), Real Audio (trademark), Liquid Audio(trademark), MS Audio (Microsoft Audio (WMA Windows Media Audio))(trademark), and Ogg Vorbis (trademark).

The music data for example stored in flash memory 54 are decoded by thedecoder 62, converted by a D/A converter 66 from digital to analog, andsounded from the speaker 68 via an amplifier 67. Alternatively, themusic data for example are sounded from a headphone connected to theheadphone terminal tb1.

In the present embodiment, the data are decoded by the decoder 62 basedon ATRAC2. It will be apparent that the decoding algorithm is notrestricted to ATRAC2; any other decoding algorithms are available ifcompatible with the encoding algorithm used in the encoder 61. Theencoding and decoding may be executed by the CPU 51 in softwareapproach.

The portable apparatus 50 has the display section 57 as shown in FIG. 2to provide interface for the user to manage and control the files ofmusic data for example stored on the flash memory 54. The displaysection 57 is drivingly controlled by a display driver 58. On thedisplay section 57, predetermined characters, symbols, icons, and so onare displayed under the control of the CPU 51.

The display section 57 also shows folders or jacket images correspondingto various files. These displayed entities can be manipulated on-screenby means of pointing devices such as a mouse, a touch pen, and thefinger of user, which are equivalent to the controls on the operatorpanel 20. For example, the user can specify a particular file on-screento be read from the flash memory 54 and sounded from the speaker 35. Theuser can perform, through the display section 57, such operations asdeletion of selected files and their copying or moving to apparatusequipment (for example, the recording/reproducing apparatus 10).

As described with reference to FIG. 2, the portable apparatus 50 may bemounted on the mount MT of the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 fordata transmission and reception therebetween. It will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that the communication between the portableapparatus 50 and the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 may be executedby a non-contact type interface; for example, wireless communicationsstandards such as based on quasi-millimeter wave, millimeter wave, orinfrared rays including IrDA and Bluetooth standards.

Although not shown, the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 may have acharge current supply section for supplying a charge current to themounted portable apparatus 50 to charge a chargeable battery of theportable apparatus 50.

(5) Data structure as a music collection:

The following describes a structure of managing the music data, on amusic collection basis, which are stored on the HDD 15 of therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 and the flash memory 54 of theportable apparatus 50 according to the invention.

The HDD 15 of the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 stores variouskinds of music data. For example, these data include the music datareproduced from recording media such as CD and MD and the music datadistributed over the transmission path 3. Each piece of music data,namely the data of one title of music, may be managed alone or pluralpieces of music data may be managed in the form of a music collection(namely a so-called music album). The data structure as a musiccollection is as shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 shows a data structure based on list ID (LID1, LID2 and so on),music collection managing data, piece-of-music managing data (namely thedata for managing one piece of music), and music data. For example, HDD15 stores plural pieces of each of these data as shown in FIG. 6A.

The list ID is identification information indicative of one musiccollection. For example, if there are m list IDs, the HDD 15 stores mmusic collections. As shown in FIG. 5, one list ID indicates one pieceof music collection managing data.

The music collection managing data include a title of the musiccollection, a send counter CTa, additional information, and music IDs(MID1, MID2, . . . MIDn) as a list of individual music pieces containedin this music collection. The number of music IDs is equivalent to thenumber of pieces of music contained in this music collection, namely thenumber of pieces of music data.

The send counter CTa provides information for counting the number oftimes a music collection managed by these music collection managing datahas been sent to another recording medium or another electronic device.For example, the send counter CTa indicates the number of times a musiccollection has been sent to the portable apparatus 50.

The additional information records an artist name, a producer name,copyright information, and other information. Further, the additionalinformation may record a session number for identifying therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 for example and informationindicative of whether these music collection managing data have beenedited or not.

One music ID indicates one piece of piece-of-music managing data. Thepiece-of-music managing data correspond to one piece of music data.Namely, the piece-of-music managing data has information associated withone piece of music data (one title of music). The piece-of-musicmanaging data starts with an audio ID which indicates the correspondingmusic data. Further, the piece-of-music managing data contains a musictitle, an artist name, a send counter CTm, and additional information.The send counter CTm provides information for counting the number oftimes the music data corresponding to these piece-of-music managing datahave been sent to another recording medium. The additional informationcontains music-associated information such as copyright informationassociated parties (lyrics writer, composer, producer, etc.), andlyrics.

The data structure shown in FIG. 5 allows each piece of music data to bemanaged as an element for constituting a music collection. It should benoted that the data structure shown in FIG. 5 also allows a state inwhich one piece of music data is contained in two or more musiccollections at a time; namely a state in which different pieces ofpiece-of-music managing data included in different list IDs indicate thesame music data.

The above-mentioned music collection managing form is created in thecase in which one or more pieces of music data are recorded as a musiccollection on the HDD 15. For example, if all data are copied from sucha recording medium as one music album as a CD or an MD onto the HDD 15,the CPU 11 references the managing information, for example, TOC data ofthat recording medium and forms a managing structure as shown in FIG. 5,storing it in the HDD 15.

This holds true with the case in which a music collection is downloadedinto the HDD 15 via the transmission path 3. At or after thedownloading, the managing information about the downloaded musiccollection is supplied from its external server, so that the CPU 11 canstore the managing structure shown in FIG. 5 into the HDD 15.

Further, one or more pieces of music data stored by the user into theHDD 15 by operating the operator panel 20 for example are selected andthese selected music data may be managed as one music collection. Inthis case, the CPU 11 forms the managing structure shown in FIG. 5 ontothe HDD 15 in accordance with the operation performed by the user forselecting the music pieces included in the music collection.

In the present embodiment, files are formed in structure on the HDD 15for example on a music collection basis as described above, so that therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 can transfer music data on a musiccollection basis to the portable apparatus 50, the transferred musicdata being stored in the flash memory 54. For example, if the userselects one or more music collections from the HDD 15 of therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 storing files as shown in FIG. 6A andgives an instruction to send the selected music collections to theportable apparatus 50, these music collections are sent to the portableapparatus 50 with the structure shown in FIG. 5 retained without change.Namely, the transfer data include not only the plural pieces of musicdata constituting each music collection, but also the list ID, musiccollection managing data, and piece-of-music managing data. For example,if three music collections are selected for transfer to the portableapparatus 50, these music collections are music collection structuredata MA1, MA2, and MA3 each constituted by the list ID, music collectionmanaging data, plural pieces of piece-of-music managing data, and musicdata as shown in FIG. 6B. These music collection structure data MA1,MA2, and MA3 are transferred to the portable apparatus 50 to be storedin the flash memory 54. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6C, the flash memory54 stores the list ID, music collection managing data, piece-of-musicmanaging data, and music data as with the HDD 15, thereby storing eachpiece of music data in the state in which the music data are managed asmusic collections as shown in FIG. 5.

Thus, with the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 and the portableapparatus 50 according to the invention, the plural pieces of music datamanaged as music collections in the HDD 15 of the recording/reproducingapparatus 10 are transferred to the portable apparatus 50 with themanaging form as a music collection retained, namely, as containing thelist ID, music collection managing data, and piece-of-music managingdata. Therefore, the portable apparatus 50 can manage plural pieces ofmusic with the concept as a music collection retained, thereby allowingthe reproduction of music data on a music collection basis. It is alsopracticable, if the portable apparatus 50 stores many pieces of musicdata as plural music collections in the flash memory 54, that these manypieces of music data are reproduced as music collections.

And now, if the transfer of data from the recording/reproducingapparatus 10 to the portable apparatus 50, namely, the copying or movingof pieces of music or collections of music is permitted unconditionally,the copyright of the copied or moved music data may be violated. Toprevent this problem from happening, the present invention controls thecopying or moving pieces of music or music collections in accordancewith various conditions and situations. The following describes specificexamples of this control.

(6) Transfer of a piece of music from the recording/reproducingapparatus to the portable apparatus:

In the present embodiment, the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 cancopy or move the music data stored in the HDD 15 to the flash memory 54of the portable apparatus 50 in units of a piece of music or acollection of music. First, the copying of moving of music data on amusic piece basis by the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 will bedescribed.

It should be noted that the copying of data denotes that, after musicdata have been transferred from a source device to a destination device,the music data still remain on the source device and can be reproducedthere. On the other hand, the moving of data denotes that, after musicdata have been transferred from a source device to a destination device,the transferred music data do not remain on the source device any moreand therefore the transferred data cannot be reproduced on the sourcedevice.

Whether music data are to be copied or moved is determined by the user,the copyright protection agreements, and the system design concept basedon the agreements. For example, if the copying of music data from theHDD 15 to another recording medium is permitted up to three times, themusic data can be copied up to three times and then they can be onlymoved. Obviously, such a restriction may be set in accordance with thetypes of destination recording media.

Herein, “transfer” is used as a generic term for copying and moving. Inwhat follows, for the transfer from the HDD 15 to the flash memory 54,only the moving is permitted by way of example. These restrictions inthe transfer of music data are processed on the basis of the sendcounters CTm and CTa. However, if the decision process based on thesesend counters CTm and CTa is modified in the processing examples shownin FIGS. 7 through 12, the music data can be copied once or more.

Now, referring to FIG. 7, the transfer of music data from the HDD 15 tothe flash memory 54, namely from the recording/reproducing apparatus 10to the portable apparatus 50, will be described by way of example. Itshould be noted that, in this example, one or more pieces of music dataare transferred, but this transfer is not of a music collection.

The processing shown in FIGS. 7 through 12 is executed by the CPU 11 ofthe recording/reproducing apparatus 10 only by way of example. Further,if the transfer control is executed by the cooperation between the CPU11 of the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 and the CPU 51 of theportable apparatus 50, the control operation by the CPU 51 may preferredover that by the CPU 11 if the user operates the portable apparatus 50.Further, it is supposed that both the recording/reproducing apparatus 10and the portable apparatus 50 be interconnected for data communicationbefore the transfer processing starts.

In step F101 of FIG. 7, when the user operates the keyboard 90, theremote commander 91, or the operator panel 20 (hereinafter genericallyreferred to as an operator's control means) to select one or more piecesof music data from the music data stored in the HDD 15 and instructs theCPU 11 to send the selected music data to the flash memory 54, the CPU11 starts transferring the selected music data.

In step F102, the CPU 11 decodes the piece-of-music managing data forone of the selected music data. In step F103, the CPU 11 determineswhether the send counter CTm written in the piece-of-music managing datais “0” or not.

If the send counter CTm is found “0”, then in step F104, the CPU 11 setsthe send counter CTm to “1”. Then, in step F106, the CPU 11 sets themusic data corresponding to these piece-of-music managing data as thedata enabled for transfer. For example, 2 bits of the additionalinformation of the piece-of-music managing data may be allocated astransfer setting bits. The meanings of these transfer setting bits maybe determined in advance; for example, “00”=transfer not set,“01”=transfer enabled, and “10”=transfer disabled.

On the other hand, if the send counter CTm is found “1” in step F103,then, in step F105, the CPU 11 determines that the music datacorresponding to these piece-of-music managing data are disabled fortransfer; namely the transfer setting bits are set to “10”.

In step F103, the send counter CTm=“1”, which denotes that these musicdata were transferred in the past and have not been returned to therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 by the return processing to bedescribed later. In this transfer processing, such music data cannot betransferred. In other words, these music data were moved and thereforedo not exist on the HDD 15.

After the transfer is disabled in step F105 or enabled in step F106, ifanother piece of the selected music data is still found in step F107,the CPU 11 returns from step F107 to step F102, executing theabove-mentioned processing on these remaining music data and theirpiece-of-music managing data.

When all of the music data selected by the user have been processed insteps F102 through F106, the CPU 11 proceeds to step F108. In step F108,the CPU 11 extracts the music data enabled for transfer in step F106 andtheir piece-of-music managing data, namely the piece-of-music managingdata of which transfer setting bits are “01”, generates the transferdata, and sends the generated transfer data to the portable apparatus50. The transfer data are constituted by piece-of-music managing dataand corresponding music data.

The portable apparatus 50 stores the supplied one or more pieces ofmusic data and their piece-of-music managing data into the flash memory54. To be more specific, under the control of the CPU 51 of the portableapparatus 50, the piece-of-music managing data are stored in themanaging data area of the flash memory 54 and the music data in the dataarea thereof. Further, the CPU 51 rewrites the Audio ID of thepiece-of-music managing data so that the Audio ID points at the startmemory address of the music data to be recorded in the data area of theflash memory 54. If an identifier is attached to the start of the musicdata in advance and the Audio ID is pointing at this identifier, thisrewriting of the audio ID is unnecessary. In this case, when the useraccesses desired music data on the portable apparatus 50, the CPU 51sequentially scans the flash memory 54 for the identifier pointed at bythe Audio ID, thereby accessing the specified music data.

When the transfer has been completed, the transfer setting bits are setto “00” under the control of the CPU 11 and the CPU 51. Consequently,the portable apparatus 50 can reproduce one or more pieces of music dataon a music piece basis stored in the flash memory 54 as the reproductionis specified by the user.

(7) Transfer of a music collection from the recording/reproducingapparatus to the portable apparatus:

The following describes the processing for transferring one or morepieces of music data on a music collection basis from the HDD 15 to theflash memory 54 with reference to FIG. 8.

In step F201 of FIG. 8, when the user operates the operator's controlmeans to select one or more pieces of music collections from the musicdata stored in the HDD 15 and instructs the CPU 11 to send the selectedmusic collections to the flash memory 54, the CPU 11 starts transferringthe selected music data.

In step F202, the CPU 11 decodes the music collection managing datacorresponding to one of the selected music collections. In step F203,the CPU 11 determines whether the send counter TCa written in the musiccollection managing data is “0” or not.

If the send counter CTa is found “1”, it indicates that this musiccollection was transferred in the past and has not been returned to therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 by the return processing to bedescribed later. This music collection is set as music collectiondisabled for transfer in step F212. Namely, this music collection ishandled as currently nonexistent on the HDD 15. This handling can beimplemented by setting 2 bits of the additional information of the musiccollection managing data for example as music collection transfersetting bits. The meanings of these transfer setting bits may bedetermined in advance; for example, “00”=transfer not set, “01”=transferenabled, and “10”=transfer disabled.

On the other hand, if the send counter CTa is found “0” in step F203,then the CPU 11 checks the individual piece of music data contained inthis music collection in steps F204 through F209.

In step F204, the CPU 11 decodes the piece-of-music managing dataderived from one music ID (MID) written in these music collectionmanaging data. In step F205, the CPU 11 determines whether the sendcounter CTm written in the managing data is “0” or not.

If the send counter CTm is found “0”, then the CPU 11 sets the sendcounter CTm to “1” in step F206. In step F208, the CPU 11 enables fortransfer the music data corresponding to these piece-of-music managingdata. To implement this setting, 2 bits of the additional information ofthe piece-of-music managing data may be allocated for the music transfersetting bits. The meanings of these transfer setting bits may bedetermined in advance; for example, “00”=transfer not set, “01”=transferenabled, and “10”=transfer disabled.

On the other hand, if the send counter CTm is found “1” in step F205,the CPU 11 disables for transfer the music data corresponding to thesepiece-of-music managing data in step F207. Namely, the CPU 11 sets themusic transfer setting bits to “10”.

For example, if the music data were transferred in the past by thetransfer processing on a music piece basis, it is possible that not amusic collection but a certain piece contained therein was transferred.In such a case, the CPU 11 proceeds to step F207.

After the transfer is disabled in step F207 or enabled in step F208, ifanother piece of the selected music data is still found in this musiccollection, the CPU 11 returns from step F209 to step F204, executingthe above-mentioned processing on these remaining music data and theirpiece-of-music managing data. Namely, the CPU 11 executes the transferenable or disable processing on all pieces of music data (and thepiece-of-music managing data) contained in this music collection (andthe music collection managing data) in steps F204 through F209.

When all pieces of music data in the music collection have been enabledor disabled for transfer, the CPU 11 determines in step F210 whetherthis music collection is enabled for transfer. It is assumed here thatthe music collection be enabled for transfer if it contains at least onepiece of music data enabled for transfer. On the other hand, if allpieces of music data in this music collection were disabled for transferin step F207, this music collection is disabled for transfer.

If this music collection is enabled for transfer, the CPU 11 sets thesend counter CTa in the music collection managing data to “1” in stepF211, enabling for transfer the music collection corresponding to thesemusic collection managing data. Namely, the CPU 11 sets the musiccollection transfer bits to “01”.

Thus, the transfer of one music collection was enabled or disabled insteps F202 through F211 or F212. If the user also selected another musiccollection in step F201, then the CPU 11 returns from step F213 to stepF202 and executes the above-mentioned processing operations on thismusic collection.

When the processing operations of steps F202 through F211 or F212 havebeen executed on all the user-selected music collections, then the CPU11 proceeds from step F213 to step F214.

Next, the CPU 11 extracts, from the music collection enabled fortransfer in step F211, namely the music collection of which musiccollection transfer bits are set to “01”, the list ID, the musiccollection managing data, the music data contained in the musiccollection, and the piece-of-music managing data corresponding to thesemusic data, thereby generating transfer data. However, if the musiccollection enabled for transfer contains any music data disabled fortransfer in step F207, the CPU 11 generates the transfer data withoutthe music data disabled for transfer and the piece-of-music managingdata corresponding to the disabled music data. Namely, the CPU 11 scansthe music transfer bits of the piece-of-music managing data specified bythe music collection managing data enabled for transfer to extract themusic data of which music transfer bits are “0” and generates thetransfer data accordingly.

The transfer data are generated as a data group of one or more musiccollections having a music collection structure containing a list IDthrough each piece of music data, namely the structure shown in FIG. 6B.The CPU transfers the generated transfer data to the portable apparatus50. The portable apparatus 50 stores all data of one or more musiccollections contained in the supplied transfer data into the flashmemory 54. Namely, the transfer data are stored in the flash memory 54as shown in FIG. 6C.

To be more specific, under the control of the CPU 51 of the portableapparatus 50, the list ID, the music collection managing data, and thepiece-of-music managing data are stored in the managing data area of theflash memory 54 and the music data into the data area thereof. The listID, the music collection managing data, and the piece-of-music managingdata are recorded in corresponding managing areas arranged as shown inFIG. 6C. Further, the CPU 51 rewrites the list ID so that it points atthe start memory address of music collection managing data to berecorded in the music collection managing data area. In addition, theCPU 51 rewrites the piece-of-music ID in the music collection managingdata so that it points at the start memory address the piece-of-musicmanaging data to be recorded in the piece-of-music managing data area.Moreover, the CPU 51 rewrites the Audio ID of the piece-of-musicmanaging data so that it points at the start memory address of the musicdata to be recorded in the data area of the flash memory 54.

If the music collection managing data, the piece-of-music managing data,and the music data are prefixed with their identifiers in advance andthe list ID, the piece-of-music ID, and the Audio ID point at theseidentifiers respectively, the list ID, the piece-of-music ID, and theAudio ID need not be rewritten. In accessing a desired data on theportable apparatus 50, the CPU 51 sequentially scans the flash memory 54for the identifiers indicated by the list ID, the piece-of-music ID, andthe Audio ID corresponding to the desired piece of music data.

When the above-mentioned transfer of the music collection has beencompleted, the music collection transfer setting bits and thepiece-of-music transfer setting bits are all reset to “00” under thecontrol of the CPU 11 and the CPU 51.

Consequently, the portable apparatus 50 is ready for reproducing, on amusic collection basis, one or more music collections stored in theflash memory 54, as instructed by the user. Various reproducing forms onthe portable apparatus 50 will be described later.

In the processing example described with reference to FIG. 8, if thatmusic collection contains any piece of music data disabled for transfer,the other pieces of music data enabled for transfer are gathered into amusic collection for transfer. Various modifications are possible forenabling or disabling music collections for transfer as will bedescribed below.

Referring to FIG. 9, there is shown a flowchart that described one ofsuch modifications. It should be noted that, with reference to FIG. 9,the processing operations similar to those previously described withreference to FIG. 8 are denoted by the same step numbers and thedescriptions of these steps will be skipped.

The difference between the processing example of FIG. 9 and theprocessing example of FIG. 8 lies in that there is no processingcorresponding to step F207 of FIG. 8. Therefore, if the piece-of-musicmanaging data of which send counter CTm=“1” corresponding to a certainpiece of music data in the music collection are found in step F205, theCPU 11 proceeds directly to step F212 to disable for transfer this musiccollection itself. Namely, the music collection transfer setting bitsare set to “10”. This means that if at least one piece of music datatransferred in the past is contained in this music collection, itstransfer as a collection is disabled.

According to this processing example, a certain music collection isenabled for transfer only when it retains a compliant form of recordedmusic. Consequently, every music collection is transferred to theportable apparatus 50 always in the state of original recorded music andthe portable apparatus 50 always reproduce every supplied musiccollection as a music collection of compliant recorded music.

Referring to FIG. 10, there is shown a flowchart that describes anothermodification It is possible in the recording/reproducing apparatus 10that the user edits the music collection managing data as desired. To bemore specific, the music collection managing data shown in FIG. 5contains piece-of-music IDs (MIDs) as a list of music pieces included inthe music collection, each piece-of-music ID (MID) corresponding to eachpiece of piece-of-music managing data. The sequence of thesepiece-of-music IDs (MIDs) corresponds to the sequence of the musicpieces in the music collection.

Therefore, the user can change the sequence of music pieces by changingthe sequence of the piece-of-music IDs (MID1, MID2, and so on). Inaddition, the user can delete a particular piece of music from the musiccollection by deleting the corresponding piece-of-music ID. Likewise,the user can add piece-of-music managing data indicated by an addedpiece-of-music ID to this music collection, thereby adding the musicdata corresponding to these piece-of-music managing data. Also, the usercan change the titles of music collection and music piece by changingthe title data in the music collection managing data and the title inthe piece-of-music managing data.

The music collection thus edited does not retain its original form.Therefore, from the standpoint of copyright holders, it is not desirablethat such user-edited music collections are transferred to otherrecording media.

This may require another processing example in which user-edited musiccollections can be reproduced only on the recording/reproducingapparatus 10 and therefore prevented from being transferred to theportable apparatus 50 and other devices.

In this example, if a certain music collection is edited by the user insome way or another, the CPU 11 sets a flag indicative of the editing,as additional information to the music collection managing datacorresponding to the edited collection. On the basis of this flagattaching processing, the music collection transfer processing as shownin FIG. 10 can be provided.

With reference to FIG. 10, the processing operations similar to thosepreviously described with reference to FIG. 9 are denoted by the samestep numbers and the descriptions of these steps will be skipped. Theprocessing example shown in FIG. 10 is obtained by adding the processingof step F215 to the processing example shown in FIG. 9. To be morespecific, if the send counter CTa of the music collection managing datais found not “0” in step F203 or the flag indicative that the musiccollection managing data have been edited is set or the music datadisabled for transfer are found included in step F205, then this musiccollection is disabled for transfer.

The above-mentioned processing prevents any user-edited music collectionfrom being transferred to the portable apparatus 50. Therefore, eachmusic collection is enabled for transfer only when it retains compliantform including the original sequence in which the pieces of music in thecollection are arranged. This allows each music collection to betransferred to the portable apparatus 50 always in the original form andto be reproduced on the portable apparatus 50.

As described, the example shown in FIG. 10 is obtained by adding thedecision of whether the editing has been executed on the musiccollection managing data to the example shown in FIG. 9. It will beapparent to those skilled in the art that a processing example in whichthis decision step is added to the processing example shown in FIG. 8 isalso possible.

It should be noted that the CPU 11 backs up, in a predetermined area ofthe HDD 15, the default music collection managing data and the defaultpiece-of-music managing data when each music collection is recorded onthe HDD 15 of the recording/reproducing apparatus 10. Every time theuser executes an editing operation, the CPU 11 compares the editedmanaging data with the backup managing data. When a match is found, theCPU 11 resets the above-mentioned flag in the additional information ofthe music collection managing data.

(8) Return of a piece of music from the portable apparatus to therecording/reproducing apparatus:

According to the processing examples shown in FIGS. 8 through 10, if acertain piece of music data in a certain music collection wastransferred to the portable apparatus 50 by the processing shown in FIG.7, this piece of music data or this music collection itself is disabledfor further transfer.

However, if the music data transferred to the portable apparatus 50 arereturned from the flash memory 54 to the HDD 15 by the return processingdescribed below, the returned music data are handled as existent in theHDD 15 again and therefore the returned music data or the musiccollection containing them is enabled for transfer to the portableapparatus 50.

Referring to FIG. 11, there is shown a return processing to be executedon a piece of music basis. When the user specifies, through theoperator's control means, one or more pieces of music data stored in theflash memory 54 of the portable apparatus 50 to return the specifiedmusic data to the HDD 15, the CPU 11 receives the return instruction instep F301, starting the return processing in step F302.

In step F302, the CPU 11 checks if the music data recorded in the flashmemory 54 of the portable apparatus 50 and specified by the user forreturn was transferred from the recording/reproducing apparatus 10.Namely, the CPU 11 confirms that the music data were not transferred tothe flash memory 54 from another recording/reproducing apparatus oranother device.

To implement this confirmation processing, the session number recordedas the additional information of the piece-of-music managing data or themusic collection managing data corresponding to these music data may bechecked. For example, although the description was skipped in theprocessing examples shown in FIGS. 7 through 10, when transferring musicdata on a piece-of-music basis or a music collection basis from therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 to the portable apparatus 50, asession number indicative of the entity of the portable apparatus 50 isadded to the additional information of the piece-of-music managing dataor the music collection managing data which are transferred with themusic data.

Inclusion of the session number in the additional information allows theCPU 11 to determine in step F302 whether the music data to be returnedwere transferred from the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 by checkingthe session number in the piece-of-music managing data or the musiccollection managing data stored in the flash memory 54. It should benoted that the session number is unique to every recording/reproducingapparatus 10 and stored in the ROM 12 for example before being shippedfrom factory.

It should be noted that FIG. 12 shows an example in which the transfersource is checked by piece-of-music ID (MID), which may also be used inthe processing example shown in FIG. 11.

If the session number of the CPU 11 matches the session number of themusic data specified by the user and therefore the CPU 11 can confirmthe these music data were transferred from the recording/reproducingapparatus 10, then the CPU 11 proceeds from step F303 to F304,transferring null data to the managing data area in the flash memory 54in which the piece-of-music managing data corresponding to the musicdata specified for return are stored. The null data denote invalid dataor zero data for example.

Namely, transfer of the null data deletes the piece-of-music managingdata from the flash memory 54. When the piece-of-music managing data aredeleted, the corresponding music data are disabled for reproduction. Itis not necessary, therefore, to delete the music data corresponding tothe piece-of-music managing data. As required, however, the null datamay be transferred to the storage area of the music data to delete them.

In step F305, the CPU 11 resets, on the HDD 15, the send counter CTm to“0” in the piece-of-music managing data for the music data specified forreturn. Consequently, on the HDD 15, these music data are returned tothe state in which they are regarded as existing, thereby completing thereturn of the music data from the flash memory 54 to the HDD 15.

If the user specifies the return of plural pieces of music data, the CPU11 returns from step F306 to step F302 and executes the above-mentionedprocessing for the remaining piece or pieces of music data.

If the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 is found, in step F303, notthe transfer source apparatus to which the music data are returned bythe user, these music data are not processed for return in steps F304and F305.

Thus, the return processing shown in FIG. 11 returns, in appearance, thespecified music data from the flash memory 54 to the HDD 15.Consequently, if the user wants to transfer a music collection from theHDD 15 to the flash memory 54 after transferring one piece includedherein from to the flash memory 54, the piece apparently returned to theHDD 15 may be transferred by the processing shown in FIGS. 8 through 10,thereby transferring the music collection itself.

(9) Return of a piece of music collection from the portable apparatus tothe recording/reproducing apparatus:

The following describes the processing for returning music data on amusic collection basis from the flash memory 54 to the HDD 15 withreference to the flowchart shown on FIG. 12. When the user specifies oneor more music collection stored in the flash memory 54 of the portableapparatus 50 by operating the operator's control means of therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 and gives an instruction to the CPU11 to return the specified one or more music collections to the HDD 15,the CPU 11 receives the instruction in step F401, starting the returnprocessing in step F402.

In step F402, the CPU 11 decodes the music collection managing data forone of the collections recorded in the flash memory 54 of the portableapparatus 50 and specified by the user for return.

In steps F403 through F406, the CPU 11 checks the contents of thedecoded music collection. To be more specific, the CPU 11 checks thepiece-of-music ID (MID) in step F403 to determine whether this IDmatches the piece-of-music ID (MID) of the music collection managingdata in the HDD 15. It should be noted that the present returnprocessing is applied to the above-mentioned transfer processing inwhich the piece-of-music ID, which has been transferred from the HDD 15to the flash memory 54, is not rewritten.

If a match is found between the piece-of-music IDs, the CPU 11 proceedsfrom step F404 to F405 and transfers null data to the managing data areain the flash memory 54 in which the piece-of-music managing dataindicated by that piece-of-music ID (MID) are stored, deleting thesepiece-of-music managing data from the flash memory 54. In step F406, theCPU 11 resets, on the HDD 15, the send counter CTm to “0” in thepiece-of-music managing data equivalent to the piece-of-music managingdata deleted from the flash memory 54.

The CPU 11 repeats the above-mentioned processing operations until it isdetermined in step F407 that there is not more piece-of-music managingdata to be processed. It should be noted that, if no match is found instep F404, the piece-of-music managing data indicated by the mismatchingpiece-of-music ID (MID) are not deleted from the flash memory 54.

Thus, by the processing operations shown in steps F403 through F407, thepiece-of-music managing data included in a music collection specifiedfor return are deleted from the flash memory 54 and returned to the HDD15.

In step F408, the CPU 11 checks the list ID for the piece-of-musicmanaging data to be currently processed stored in the flash memory 54.In step F409, the CPU 11 checks if this list ID matches the list ID onthe HDD 15. It should be noted that the present return processing isapplied to the above-mentioned transfer processing in which, when thelist ID has been transferred and recorded from the HDD 15 to the flashmemory 54, this list ID is not rewritten.

When a match is found between the list IDs, the CPU 11 proceeds fromstep F409 to step F410 and transfers null data to the managing data areain the flash memory 54 in which the music collection data to beprocessed are stored, deleting them from the flash memory 54. In stepF411, the CPU 11 resets, on the HDD 15, the send counter CTa to “0”which included in the music collection managing data equivalent to themusic collection managing data deleted from the flash memory 54. Now,the apparent return of the music collection specified for return to theHDD 15 has been completed.

In step F412, if the user specified plural music collections in stepF401, the CPU 11 checks if there remain any music collections not yetprocessed. If a music collection not yet processed is found, then theCPU 11 returns to step F402 to execute the above-mentioned processingoperations on that music collection. When all specified musiccollections have been processed, this return processing comes to an endfrom step F412.

The above-mentioned processing allows the apparent return of musiccollections from the flash memory 54 to the HDD 15.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned piece-of-music ID and listID are dependent on information sources; for example, within a samepiece of information content, different IDs are assigned to differentinformation source media. In the present embodiment, for example, thepiece-of-music ID and list ID may be rewritten to the ID for therecording/reproducing apparatus 10 at the time when a music collectioncorresponding to the list ID is recorded to the HDD 15 of therecording/reproducing apparatus 10. If the recording/reproducingapparatus 10 records a music collection from a CD and differentpiece-of-music IDs and, within a same piece of information content,different list IDs are assigned to different CDs beforehand, no IDrewriting is required for the recording/reproducing apparatus 10 at thetime when recording the music collection to the HDD 15.

In the present return processing, the matching between thepiece-of-music IDs and the list IDs is checked, so that the music dataare correctly returned from the flash memory 54 to the HDD 15.

The apparent return of music collections allows the subsequent transferof the returned music collections to the flash memory 54 or otherrecording media.

If a match is found between the piece-of-music IDs of only some of thepieces of music contained in a music collection while a mismatch isfound for the other pieces of music, it means that only a part (musicdata) of the music collection has been transferred from the HDD 15 whilethe other (piece-of-music managing data) and the music collectionmanaging data have been transferred a recording medium such as anotherHDD. In this case, only the piece-of-music managing data having thematching piece-of-music ID (MID) and the corresponding music data arereturned. Consequently, in a state in which music collections have beentransferred from various recording media to the flash memory 54, thetransfer and return relationship between the HDD 15 and the flash memory54 can be maintained correctly.

It should be noted that the confirmation of the matching for transfersource may also be realized by checking the match in the session numberassigned to the music collection managing data or the piece-of-musicmanaging data as described with reference to FIG. 11.

In the processing examples shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the user specifiesthe return processing by operating the recording/reproducing apparatus10. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the user mayoperate the portable apparatus 50 to achieve the same purpose.

In the transfer and return processing operations described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 12, the transfer or return of music data isenabled or disabled by the values of the send counters CTa and CTm.Especially, the examples have been described in which, when the sendcounter CTa is “1”, the music collection concerned is disabled fortransfer and, when the send counter CTm is “1”, a piece of musicconcerned or a music collection containing the piece of music isdisabled for transfer. However, as described, these processing examplesare based on the premise that the movement of music data from the HDD 15to the flash memory 54 is permitted only once.

For example, if it is premised that music data can be copied up to threetimes from the HDD 15 to another recording medium, the transfer isenabled until the values of the send counters CTa and CTm each reach 3.Obviously, every time a return processing operation is executed, thevalues of the send counters CTa and CTm are decremented by 1 for thereturned music collection or piece of music.

(10) Reproducing operations of the portable apparatus:

The following describes the reproducing operations enabled on theportable apparatus 50 to which a music collection has been transferred.Assume that the flash memory 54 of the portable apparatus 50 store datahaving a managing structure as a music collection as shown in FIG. 6C,then the portable apparatus 50 can execute various reproducingoperations as shown in FIG. 13.

The reproduction operation modes provided by the present embodiment maybe normal reproduction, programmed reproduction, and shufflereproduction.

The normal reproduction includes the reproduction of a specified musiccollection, the reproduction of a specified piece of music, and thecontinuous reproduction of music collections.

The reproduction of a specified music collection starts when the userspecifies one or more music collections recorded in the flash memory 54.Namely, when the user specifies one or more music collections, thepieces of music contained in them are reproduced in the normal order.

The CPU 51 of the portable apparatus 50 references the music collectionmanaging data of the specified music collection or music collectionsand, on the basis of one or more piece-of-music IDs (MIDs) written inthese music collection managing data, executes the reproduction of thepieces of music in the order of these piece-of-music IDs (MID1, MID2,and so on). Namely, the CPU 51 sequentially reproduces the music datacorresponding to the piece-of-music managing information indicated bythe piece-of-music IDs. Consequently, the reproduction of a musiccollection or collections is executed as a normal music album or albums.

It should be noted that, if only one music collection is stored in theflash memory 54, the pieces of music contained in it are reproduced inthe normal order also when the user executes a reproducing operationwith no music collection specified.

The reproduction of a specified piece of music starts when the userspecifies a certain piece of music data of one or more pieces of musicdata stored in the flash memory 54. Namely, when the user specifiesmusic data (piece-of-music managing data), the CPU 51 reproduces themusic data corresponding to these piece-of-music managing data.Consequently, only the piece of music specified by the user isreproduced.

The continuous reproduction of music collections is executed when theuser executes a reproducing operation without specifying any music data.In this mode, the CPU 51 execution the reproduction starting with thefirst music collection indicated by the list ID (LDIl). The pieces ofmusic contained in each music collection are reproduced in the normalorder.

To be more specific, the CPU 51 first references the first musiccollection managing information from the list ID (LID1) and, inaccordance with the sequence of the piece-of-music IDs in this firstmusic collection managing information, reproduces each piece of themusic data in this collection. When this reproduction has beencompleted, the CPU 51 references the second music collection managinginformation from the list ID (LID2) and, in accordance with the sequenceof the piece-of-music IDs in this second music collection managinginformation, reproduces each piece of music data in this collection. TheCPU 51 repeats the above-mentioned operations until the last list ID.Consequently, one or more music collections are sequentially reproducedin the order of the list IDs.

In the programmed reproducing mode, the music data are reproduced in anorder programmed by the user. The programmed reproduction mode includesthe programmed reproduction in the sequence of the pieces of musiccontained in a specified music collection, the programmed reproductionin the sequence of music pieces contained in all music collections, andthe programmed reproduction in the sequence of music collections, forexample.

The programmed reproduction in the sequence of the pieces of musiccontained in a specified particular music collection is executed whenthe user specifies the particular music collection stored in the flashmemory 54 and then specifies the reproduction sequence of the pieces ofmusic contained in the specified music collection. Namely, the CPU 51captures the specifications by the user of music pieces and theirreproduction sequence, references the corresponding music collectionmanaging data and piece-of-music managing data, and reproduces thespecified music data in the specified order.

The programmed reproduction in the sequence of music pieces contained inall music collections is executed when the user selects desired piecesof music over all music collections stored in the flash memory 54 andthen specifies the sequence of reproducing the specified pieces ofmusic. Namely, a program specifying the reproduction sequence of thespecified pieces of music is executed on all music collections stored inthe flash memory 54.

The CPU 51 captures the specification by the user of the reproductionsequence, references the corresponding music collection managing dataand piece-of-music managing data, and reproduces the specified pieces ofmusic in the specified order.

This processing, with respect to conventional recording media such as CDand MD, is equivalent to an operation in which the specified pieces ofmusic are reproduced in the specified order by seamlessly changing twoor more recording media, or two or more music albums. This is thereforeconventionally realized only with so-called changer systemscomparatively large in equipment size and sophisticated in operationalcontrol. On the contrary, the portable apparatus 50 stores plural musiccollections in the flash memory 54, so that no time is required forchanging recording media between pieces of music, thereby making thetransition in reproduction between pieces of music faster than thechanger systems.

The programmed reproduction in the sequence of music collections isexecuted when the user specifies the reproduction sequence on a musiccollection basis. Namely, when the user specifies the sequence of musiccollections, the CPU 51 reproduces the music collections in thespecified sequence. This processing, with respect to recording mediasuch as CD and MD, is also equivalent to an operation in which two ormore recording media are changed and reproduced in the specified order.This is conventionally realized only with so-called changer systems.Obviously, with the portable apparatus 50, the reproduction can becontinued more easily and faster than the conventional changer systems.

In addition to the above-mentioned programmed reproduction modes, thepresent embodiment provides the programmed reproduction of music piecesand music collections in which the user specifies a sequence of musiccollections and then the user further specifies a sequence of musicpieces in each music collection.

In the shuffle reproduction mode, the CPU 51 selects music pieces ormusic collections at random and sequentially reproduces the music datathus selected. The shuffle reproduction mode includes the shufflereproduction in a specified music collection, the shuffle reproductionin plural specified music collections, and the shuttle reproduction inall music collections.

The shuffle reproduction in a specified music collection is executedwhen the user specifies a certain music collection stored in the flashmemory 54 and then specifies the shuffle reproduction. The CPU 51references the music collection managing data and the piece-of-musicmanaging data corresponding to the specified music collection. Then, theCPU 51 selects at random the piece-of-music IDs written in the musiccollection managing data and reproduces the selected piece-of-musicmanaging data, namely the music data. This shuffle reproduction allowsthe user to listen to the specified pieces of music in an unexpectedorder in the music collection.

The shuffle reproduction in plural specified music collections isexecuted when the user specifies plural music collections stored in theflash memory 54 and then specifies the shuffle reproduction. The CPU 51references the music collection managing data corresponding to thespecified plural music collections. Then, the CPU 51 selects thepiece-of-music IDs at random in a range of these music collectionmanaging data and reproduces the selected piece-of-music managing data,namely the music data. This shuffle reproduction allows the user tolisten to the selected pieces of music in an unexpected order in thespecified plural music collections.

The shuffle reproduction in all music collections is executed toreproduce all music collections, namely all music data stored in theflash memory 54. The CPU 51 references the music collection managingdata corresponding to all music collections, selects at random thepiece-of-music IDs in a range described in all music collection managingdata, and reproduces the selected piece-of-music managing data, namelythe music data. This shuffle reproduction allows the user to listen tothe pieces of music in an unexpected order in all music data stored inthe flash memory 54.

As described, the portable apparatus 50 practiced as one preferredembodiment of the present invention stores music data in units of one ormore music collections, so that various reproducing operations such asmentioned above can be realized on the basis of the concept of musiccollections. Obviously, the present embodiment does not store musiccollections in a manner in which one music collection is recorded on oneCD or MD, so that the present embodiment does not require anyrerecording media changing operations in implementing theabove-mentioned various reproduction modes, thereby eliminating thenecessity for a large-scale equipment configuration as the conventionalmedia changing systems. Moreover, because no recording media changingoperations are required, the present embodiment is free from the timeloss otherwise incurred, thereby realizing a music reproducingenvironment more comfortable to users than the related-art counterpart.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, in the addition tothe above-mentioned capabilities, the present invention allows aintroduction reproduction in which only the introductions of pieces ofmusic are sequentially reproduced in one music collection for example ora repeated reproduction in which a certain music collection isrepeatedly reproduced for example while retaining the framework of musiccollections.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed using specific terms, such description is for illustrativepurposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variationsmay be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A recording/reproducing apparatus comprising:recording/reproducing means for recording/reproducing data to/from arewritable recording medium having a data area in which data are storedand a management data area in which management data for managing saiddata are stored; selecting means for selecting group management data tobe stored in said rewritable recording medium in accordance with a useroperation, said group management data being stored in said managementdata area for managing as a data group a plurality of data to be storedin said data area; reading means for reading said selected groupmanagement data and said data group managed by said group managementdata; and transfer means for transferring said group management data andsaid data group read by said reading means to an external apparatus,wherein said recording/reproducing means rewrites said group managementdata stored in said management data area of said rewritable recordingmedium in response to said transfer operation.
 2. Therecording/reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said groupmanagement data include data group transfer count information indicativeof a number of times said data group has been transferred to saidexternal apparatus, said recording/reproducing apparatus furthercomprising: control means for controlling said transfer means so as totransfer said data group to said external apparatus on a basis of saiddata group transfer count information and for incrementing said datagroup transfer count information.
 3. The recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein: said transfer means transfers each pieceof data managed by said group management data to said externalapparatus, said group management data includes data transfer countinformation indicative of a number of times said each piece of datamanaged by said group management data has been transferred to saidexternal apparatus, and said control means controls said transfer meansso as to transfer said each piece of data to said external apparatus ona basis of said data transfer count information and for incrementingsaid data transfer count information.
 4. The recording/reproducingapparatus according to claim 3, wherein: said control means controlssaid transfer means so as not to transfer said each piece of data tosaid external apparatus on said basis of said data transfer countinformation.
 5. The recording/reproducing apparatus according to claim4, wherein: said control means controls said transfer means so as not totransfer said each piece of data when a value of said data transfercount information is greater than a predetermined value.
 6. Therecording/reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: saidgroup management data transferred by said transfer means to saidexternal apparatus include list management data for managing a pluralityof data groups, a plurality of group management data which are managedby said list management data and include a plurality of audioidentifiers, and a plurality of audio management data which are managedby said group management data and include a single audio identifier; andin response to a user request for a transfer of each piece of audio datamanaged by said transferred management data from said external apparatusto said recording/reproducing apparatus, said control means compares anaudio identifier corresponding to said each piece of audio data with anaudio identifier stored in said recording/reproducing apparatus, deletesaudio management data and said each piece of audio data from saidexternal apparatus in accordance with a result of said comparison, anddecrements said data transfer count information corresponding to saideach piece of audio data stored in said recording/reproducing apparatus.7. The recording/reproducing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein:said control means controls said transfer means so as not to transfersaid data group to said external apparatus on said basis of said datatransfer count information corresponding to said each piece of datamanaged by said group management data.
 8. The recording/reproducingapparatus according to claim 7, wherein: said control means controlssaid transfer means so as not to transfer said group management data tosaid external apparatus when a value of at least one piece of said datatransfer count information each corresponding to said each piece of datamanaged by said group management data is greater than a predeterminedvalue.
 9. The recording/reproducing apparatus according to claim 7,wherein: said control means control said transfer means so as totransfer, to said external apparatus, data managed by said groupmanagement data, said data being lower in said data transfer countinformation than a predetermined value.
 10. The recording/reproducingapparatus according to claim 2, wherein: said control means controlssaid transfer means so as not to transfer said data group to saidexternal apparatus on said basis of said data group transfer countinformation.
 11. The recording/reproducing apparatus according to claim10, wherein: said control means controls said transfer means so as notto transfer said data group to said external apparatus when a value ofsaid data group transfer count information is greater than apredetermined value.
 12. The recording/reproducing apparatus accordingto claim 11, wherein: said group management data transferred by saidtransfer means to said external apparatus include a session numberindicative of an identifier of said recording/reproducing apparatus; andin response to a user request for a transfer of said data group fromsaid external apparatus to said recording/reproducing apparatus, saidcontrol means compares a session number of said group management datacorresponding to a data group with said session number of saidrecording/reproducing apparatus, deletes said group management data andsaid data group from said external apparatus in accordance with a resultof said comparison, and decrements said data group transfer countinformation stored in said recording/reproducing apparatus.
 13. Therecording/reproducing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein: saidgroup management data transferred by said transfer means to saidexternal apparatus include list management data having list identifierspointing at a plurality of data groups one to one, a plurality of groupcontrol data which are managed by said list management data and includea plurality of audio identifiers, and a plurality of audio managementdata which are managed by said group management data and include asingle audio identifier; and in response to a user request for atransfer of said data group managed by said group management data fromsaid external apparatus to said recording/reproducing apparatus, saidcontrol means compares a list identifier corresponding to said datagroup with a list identifier stored in said recording/reproducingapparatus, deletes list management data and group management data andaudio data corresponding to list management data from said externalapparatus in accordance with a result of said comparison, and decrementssaid data group transfer count information corresponding to said listmanagement data stored in said recording/reproducing apparatus.
 14. Therecording/reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said groupmanagement data include edit information indicative of whether said datagroup managed by said group management data has been edited, saidrecording/reproducing apparatus further comprising: control means forcontrolling said transfer means so as to transfer said data group tosaid external apparatus on a basis of said edit information.
 15. Therecording/reproducing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein: saidstorage medium stores a plurality of data groups; said management dataarea stores a list management data for managing said plurality of datagroups, a plurality of group management data managed by said listmanagement data, and a plurality of audio management data managed bysaid group management data; said data area stores audio data managed bysaid audio management data; and said control means controls saidtransfer of said plurality of data groups on said basis of said editinformation associated with one of said plurality of group managementdata and said plurality of audio management data.
 16. Therecording/reproducing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein: saidcontrol means controls said transfer means so as not to transfer saiddata group to said external apparatus when said data group is foundedited on said basis of said edit information.
 17. A data transfermethod for a recording/reproducing apparatus for transferring data froma rewritable recording medium having a data area in which data arestored and a management data area in which management data for managingsaid data are stored, comprising the steps of: recording/reproducingdata to/from said rewritable recording medium; selecting groupmanagement data to be stored in said rewritable recording medium inaccordance with a user operation, said group management data beingstored in said management data area for managing, as a data group aplurality of pieces of data to be stored in said data area; reading saidselected group management data and said data group managed by said groupmanagement data; and transferring said read group management data andsaid read data group to an external apparatus and, in response to saidtransferring step, rewriting said group management data stored in saidmanagement data area of said rewritable recording medium.